Girl Says Uber Driver Sexually Assaulted Her

PHOENIX (CN) – Uber hired a driver who had been charged with sexual abuse of a minor, and he sexually assaulted a girl who called him for a ride home from school, the girl’s parents claim in court. The girl and her parents sued Uber, its driver James Stough, and Black Corporation, the Uber subsidiary that conducts background checks of its driver, in Maricopa County Court. “On the trip from the plaintiff’s school to her home on June 1, 2015 the defendant Uber’s driver pulled the car over to the side of the road, opened the back door where the plaintiff was seated, and sexually assaulted the plaintiff,” the family says in the May 26 complaint. It continues: “After getting the Uber driver to drop her off near, but not at, her home, so he would not know where she lived, the plaintiff told her father what had happened, and her father called the police.” The family says Stough had been charged with child abuse and/or sexual assault of a minor before Uber hired him, and that no one at Uber met with Stough before hiring him. To top it off, the family says, the girl had to pay an extra “safe ride fee” despite Uber’s worthless background check of its driver. Uber says on its website that it provides rides “you can trust” and: “Safety is important to us — whether you’re in the backseat or behind the wheel. That’s why we continue to develop technology that helps make millions of rides safer everyday.” The family says Uber knew that at least 20 other Uber drivers had been accused of sexual assault before June 1, 2015. “At the time of this incident, Uber was being sued for its failure to perform adequate background checks on its drivers, and for its misrepresentation of the quality of those background checks,” the complaint states. In short, Uber enabled Stough’s criminal predilection, the family says. Their attorney Elliot Wolfe, with Palumbo Wolfe & Palumbo, did not immediately return a phone call on Tuesday afternoon. The family seeks punitive damages.